I am perfect

Yogis,

This week we exhaled.  And exhaled some more.  Classes felt to me like one gigantic exhale as we flowed over and over with breath.  So relaxing.   Amazing what breath can do…..

In life we need these exhales planted within every single day.  Those times each day that you stop what you are “supposed to be doing” (although I am not exactly sure who is telling us what we are supposed to be doing – but that’s for another day), step off the treadmill and be with whatever brings you inner peace.  They can be 5 minute barefoot walks in the grass, a 3 minute dance to your favorite song, a ½ hour soak in the tub or an hour long yoga asana practice.  The amount of time is not important, but the doing it is.

For me it is my morning meditation, my yoga practice at lunch, my weekly walk to the river and my wander through the garden at the end of the day.  And each time I do any of them my mind shifts from the thinking mind to the feeling mind.  Another world entirely.  And when I get back on the treadmill of daily life I am refreshed and ready.  So what are yours?  Do you make time for them?  Every day?  If not, why?

So as I exhaled my way through this past week, someone reminded me of something which I had forgotten……

I am perfect.

So simple…..   I am perfect.  In fact, we are all perfect. 

Now many of you may have the reaction that this sounds quite egotistical.  Who the heck does she think she is?  But it is actually the opposite.  To believe that we are imperfect is to say that the Universe, God, or the great mystery created us as flawed.  That somehow we know better and can “fix” ourselves.  Now that takes a big ego.  But it is all in how you uncover your perfection.

It isn’t “I AM PERFECT” said with the chest puffed and in a loud authoritative voice, indicating that I am somehow better than others.  Instead it is simply “I am perfect” said from the heart with openness and gratitude. 

You are perfect.  The “you” is your innermost soul, unchangeable and filled with light.   The messiness on the outside is just our human-ness, and will never be perfect, nor is it meant to be.  It is just called life and is the playground for our soul to take pleasure in.

At yoga class the other night we had a substitute teacher.  At the end of class she thanked us all for being there and  then the following just tumbled out of her with a huge smile –“ Thank you for letting me be me.  That is why I love this job so much!”.  It is those times that we feel free to be our true selves that feel the most perfect.  Where everything fits and we feel limitless.

It takes strength to recognize your perfection.  It can feel uncomfortable.  That somehow we are unworthy.  But the perfection is there and is patiently waiting to be embraced and shared.  And the more you begin to see your own perfection, the more often you will look into someone else’s eyes and feel a strange sense that you know them from somewhere.    It is simply the other’s perfection reminding you of yours. 

I am perfect.  You are perfect.  Now that calls for a big exhale…….

I see you,

SARAH